This is really just a preview for a coming post in which we’ll talk about the myth of the social media echo chamber.
The Dark Underbelly of Social Media
A few hours ago I stumbled onto a bunch of white supremacists on Twitter. I read their tweets and some of their blogs. They spoke longingly of throwing Jews into the ovens again and sending the wetbacks, spicks and micks back to where they came from.
I won’t share their tweets here or provide links to their websites. If you want to find them you can but they aren’t getting any traffic from me.
Instead you’ll get to hear some of my thoughts and I’ll ask you to think about these things too. You see I am torn about giving them free reign online. I am torn about providing a venue for them to spout their hate and an opportunity to make “friends.”
Part of me appreciates having the monsters come out from the closets and under the beds. I like knowing where they are. But not all of the creepy-crawlers show themselves. Some remain in the shadows and among those who come out there is still secrecy.
Take It Seriously
When someone says they want to murder my family and myself I take it very seriously. You don’t get a pass on this. A five-year-old would get a pass from me, but not adults. When you say you want to kill me I take it seriously. I believe you and I make a point to take precautions.
It makes me angry. They are part of the reason why we have security at school. They are part of the reason why so many synagogues have security. I won’t not send my kids to school and I won’t not to go synagogue because they might show up. I won’t give them that power but it doesn’t mean that I can’t be pissed off about it.
But there are degrees of anger and you don’t have to respond by acting crazy. I could have responded to their tweets or posted on their blogs. I didn’t do it because I didn’t see the benefit in it.
I didn’t do it because I don’t believe that they are going to engage in dialogue. We are not going to hug it out. Â It is far more likely that insults will fly and I’ll tell them to go fuck themselves and remind them that they always lose.
But what is the point. I don’t need to wave my dick around and show them that I can piss harder, faster and farther. So you’ll see me vent just a little here and that will be that.
In between I’ll think about this and maybe make contact with organizations that deal with these douchebags. Â In my mind the goal is out think and out maneuver them. But I would by lying if I said that I don’t want to see them get their asses handed to them.
What Happens To Your Facebook Account When You Die?
The question really shouldn’t be what happens to your Facebook account when you die because that is not inclusive enough, at least not for me.
I have been thinking about this on and off for a while now. Been thinking about it because Facebook is where I learned that three friends had died and an aunt. Been thinking about it because another friend died a short while back but her social media presence hasn’t completely disappeared.
Not that I am suggesting it should.
I have visited her Facebook page a bunch of times. It is where many of her friends and family have chosen to congregate.
Even though I am quite familiar with death and have lost more than a few friends it is still shocking when it happens. And as a parent it is a stark reminder to make plans to try and minimize the impact on your children.
My kids are still very young. If I died today it would be devastating. It is part of why you see multiple posts here that are addressed to them. It is why I have life insurance. It is why I have had multiple discussions about what happens if they lose both their parents.
Where do they go? Who raises them?
Those are the obvious ones which is why I circle back to social media. I am a dad blogger who is active on multiple platforms. What happens if I get hit by a bus, have a massive heart attack or take a bullet to the head.
I know that there are companies out there who offer services for just this purpose. Ask Old Doc Google to give you a rundown on who they are and you can figure out if you are interested.
As for me, let’s just say that I am not sure what I really want to have happen. Would I want some one or thing to wipe out all of the digital bits and pieces that I have collected and placed around the net. Would wiping my digital presence clean be good or bad.
I don’t really know and I am not sure that it matters. It is not because I am concerned, worried, scared or upset about what happens after death. That doesn’t bother me. What I wonder about is what it would mean for those who loved me.
Would having my words be a comfort or a burden. This blog is filled with almost 9,000 posts about everything you can think of. There are posts on politics, religion, sex, life and all sorts of other stuff. Is it really representative of me and does it matter.
Not long ago an old friend posted a few pictures of us from college. Two of them show me in a state that is less than flattering. If I had the choice I’d prefer that those not be the last images people have of me. Not that I expect them to be. Unless something crazy happens I will be back at the keyboard, tonight, tomorrow and for a long time to come.
Have you thought about this? Do you wonder or worry about what happens to your Facebook account when you die?
Social Media Madness
Dear Brand XYZ,
It is your old friend Jack here to share some common sense advice with you. With few exceptions most of you would never consider using a 20 year-old intern as your company spokesperson. Don’t give me stories about how some 20 year-olds are brilliant, eloquent and bestowed with exceptional common sense because we are not talking about them.
We are talking about most 20 year-olds who have limited life and business experience. We are talking about people who probably aren’t seasoned enough to deal with some of the really hard questions and situations that businesses often have to face. Yet you the fine executives at Brand XYZ who won’t allow these younger people to serve as the “public” mouthpiece shoot yourself in the foot by placing them in charge of social media.
As ridiculous as it might seem, some of you haven’t figured out that Facebook, YouTube, Blogs and Twitter are all public. You haven’t figured out that you just gave the kid a microphone and license to use it. You haven’t figured out that they might have a different definition of what is appropriate and proper than you.
If you are smart you’ll make the appropriate changes very quickly or you might find yourself as the newest case study in what not to do. If you are really lucky you won’t have enraged a social media expert who is well connected and ready to unleash a 24 hour campaign of social media terror upon your company. Remember, it may not be right or fair but once the barn door is open it is really hard to get the horses back inside.
The best thing you can do is be proactive. Take steps to make sure that your social media plan is being handled by someone who has the experience and savvy to prevent you from dealing with a crisis PR situation. Doing nothing makes as much sense as trying to build a parachute after you have jumped out of the plane.
How To Become A Social Media Expert
How to Become a Social Media Expert is the kind of headline that makes me roll my eyes. I hate it because it sounds ridiculous. I hate it because it sounds like a scam. I mock the so called experts who charge ridiculous amounts of money to teach others how to be successful at this. You don’t need to pay someone to learn how to be an expert.
In a moment I’ll provide you with the single most important rule of social media and then you’ll understand that if you pay someone for working in social media this is what you should be paying them to do.
Engage with others. Listen to what people have to say and have a discussion with them.
It is not any different than the real world. People are social creatures. They want to be heard. They want to be useful, worthwhile and valuable. The people that we like the most tend to do a good job of doing that for us. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to be friends with everyone either. It really just means that you have a two way exchange in which both parties feel value and appreciation.
Remember that The Power of Social Media is simple:
Power in social media is derived from your ability to convince others to respond to a call to action.
Engagement with others is the most effective way to do that. Ideally that means that you develop friendships with others. As a father I teach my children that you can never have too many friends. As a realist I know that you can’t be friends with everyone, there simply isn’t time. However that doesn’t have to prevent you from using social media to become far more influential than you are today.
Engage, engage, engage. That is it. Talk to others, be real and be authentic.
That’s all it takes. Now you are a social media expert and it didn’t cost you a dime.
The Power of Social Media
If you spend any time on Twitter you probably have noticed that 87.3% of your followers claim to be social media experts. And you certainly have been exposed to numerous posts, essays, tweets and claims about the power of social media.
There is no doubt that you can use the power of social media to accomplish quite a bit. But there is a fundamental issue that many people ignore or gloss over.
Power in social media is derived from your ability to convince others to respond to a call to action.
If your readers/followers don’t respond to your requests for action than it really doesn’t matter whether you have one or a million.